The invention is directed to the combination of a small optical frame with a unique PDT (Print Disabled Text) reading software for a smartphone that enables those with vision impairment to be able to hear the written word spoken to them through their smartphone.
The small collapsible frame enables the reading of a uniquely developed coding of complete pages of information in only a three-quarter inch (18 mm) square spot (containing a 2-D bar code) located in an upper corner of a printed page. The easy-to-feel cut (chamferred) corner of the base allows those with vision impairment to easily align the frame with the clipped corner of a properly encoded sheet of paper or with the inner seam (spine) of a magazine or book.
This combination is especially helpful for those with vision impairment, dyslexia, and/or other reading limitations.
The system works with many or most popular smartphone models, i.e., those with a built-in camera, speaker and processing capability. The user snaps the smartphone into the frame, which then automatically aligns the built-in camera with the frame's magnifying lens, and holds the phone at an optimal position for reading the high-density PDT code printed on the page.
The intelligent software package, i.e., app, is loaded into the smartphone, and the encoded information in the PDT code is recovered and deciphered, allowing the words to be spoken by either the built-in smartphone speaker, Bluetooth enabled hearing aids or ear pieces, or earphones plugged into the smartphone. The user can thus easily hear the written text that has been read by the camera in their smartphone and spoken by the smartphone.
The system is designed to be easy to use. Tapping the icon for the app software starts the application on the smartphone, and the user merely slides the base of the unit over to the corner of the page where the PDT code is located. Instantly the unit begins to “read” aloud to the user the corresponding text it has deciphered from the PDT code. The PDT can be configured for multiple languages, and the system can speak in the user's native language (or other language that the user selects) of what is deciphered. The text in multiple languages may all be present in the PDT coded symbol, or the translation may be carried out by the software in the smartphone, or the translation and speech conversion may be carried out on-line. The translation may be carried out automatically.
The PDT code is a custom type of 2-D bar coding, somewhat similar to conventional 2-D bar codes, but utilizes special physical and encoding compression that allows the embedding of thousands of characters of information into one small image. The placement of the PDT coded symbol is preferably specified to be at a consistent location on the printed page, so that even a totally blind person can find it and use the system to convert the printed words to audible speech.